Billet grinding machine



D. E. MULHOLLAND BILLET GRINDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26,1941 pawn E. MULHOLLHND' h 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 DFiV ID E, MULHOLLHND';

Nov. 9, 1943'. D. E. MULHOLLAND BILLET GRINDING MACHINE Filed May 26,1941 Patented Nov; 9, 1943 UNITED STATES RATENT OFFICEBELET'GRINDINGMA'CHINE David E. Mulholland, Fort Myers, Flm ApplicationMay 26, 1941; SeriaLNo. seems 7 Claims. ((1 51-92) The invention relatesto means for grinding the surfaces of billets and slabs and moreparticularly to apparatus so designed and constructed asto provide acontinuous line contact transversely of the billet between the billetand abrasive drum whereby surface defects ofthe billet may beremoved bya relative longitudinal movement between the billet and the abrasivedrum.

The principal object of my invention, generally.-

stated, is to provide novel and compact apparatus having mounted thereona rotatable abrasive drum and to provide such apparatus with means bywhich a billet may be transported beneath and drum without regard to thevariations in.

thickness or the surface configuration of the billet.

Still another object of th invention is to provide a billet grindingmechanism having a power driven abrasive drum rotatably supported infixed bearings, said drum bridging the base member and adapted to have aline contact with the adjacent surface of the billet, the latter beingsupported by a plurality of members having their pivotal axes at rightangles to each other, together with means carried by one of said membersfor equalizing the pressure between said billet and drum during relativelongitudinal movement of said billet with respect to the axis of saiddrum.

There are numerousother objects of the invention as will hereinaftermore fully appear from the detailed description of the single embodimentof the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a billet grinding machineconstructed in accordance with my' invention. I Figure 2 is a top planview of the machine. Figure 3 is a view partially .in side elevation andpartially in vertical cross section of the machine shown in Figure 1;

facing of billets.

Figures 4 and 5 are, respectively, vertical cross sectional views takenon the lines 4-4 and 55 of Figure 1.

Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, side elevational and verticalsectional views of a diaphragm member used to apply pressure to one 1end of the pivot beam illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive.

Figures 7 and 8 are, respectively, a plan view and a cross sectionalview of the means by which the motor is connected to the driving shaftof the abrasive drum.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-8 of Figure 8..

Throughout the specification and drawings like parts are designated bylike reference characters.

' Before describing the invention in detail, it is perhaps advisable topoint out that billets, before being reheated and subjected to theaction of the forming rolls, haveon their upper and lower faces surfaceswhich are irregular in shape but which, in any vertical plane at rightangles to the major axis of the billet, are in a single plane. The angleof the respective planes on the surface of the-billet in respect to thehorizontal plane varies through wide degrees. As a result it hasheretofore been considered impossible to treat the surface of billetsbefore the'same are reheated and subjected to passage through theforming rolls with any other mechanism than hand grinders since toattempt to grind the surface with a fixed abrasive drum would result ina lossof from fifteen percent (15%) to twenty percent (20%) of the totalvolume of billet. Hand grinding is expensive and exceedinglyunsatisfactory unless done by a highly skilled operator since the bluingof the surface produced by hand grinding tends to hide the seams, checksand other defects in the 'surfaceiof the billet.

The machine illustrated is so arranged and disposed as to permit therapid and economical sur- When billets are subjected to the primary rollthe opposite surfaces thereof will be parallel when the rolls are movedbut as the rolls wear the surfaces of the billets operated on by suchrolls become weighted. Since these irregular surfaces on the billet areformed by surfaces of revolution acting at right angles to the generalplane of the surfaces any transverse cross section of the billet willshow that each of the opposite surfaces of, the billet lies in a singleplane although the opposite plane may not be parallel. By positioningthe billet in a support to so control the action of the billet duringitspassage beneath the grinding drum. that there is "a substantiallyuniform pressure always exerted by the billet at any instant against thegrinding drum.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral l indicates a base memberwhich is of suitable length and is adapted to afford a rigid support fora carriage 2 mounted, by means of grooved wheels 3, on track members 4carried by the base I. At a convenient point intermediate the' ends ofthe base I provide a pair of alined standards and at the upper end ofeach standard there is provideda bearing seat portion i into which isreceived the bearing 1 of the abrasive drum 4. It will, of course, beunderstood that the bearing seats are closed by an upper bearing seatportionl, the portions 9 being detachably secured to the standards 5 bybolts lfl so that,

upon the removal of the bolts ill and the upper bearing portions 9, theabrasive drum may be removed from the standards 5 for repairs or topermit a new abrasive drum to be substituted therefor. Overlying theabrasive drum and preferably connected to the upper portions 9, Iprovide a housing member ll enclosing the upper surface of the drum andinto said housing there is adapted to project nozzles l2 through which acoolant may be applied to the peripheral surface of the drum. It will beunderstood that the nozzles I 2 project into diaphragm members I3 whichextend the full length of the abrading surface of the drum in order thatthe coolant may be distributed over the entire surface. The abradingsurface l4 of the drumis preferably formed of abrasive grains bonded ina vulcanized rubber, as setforth in my prior Patent No. 2,106,186. Thecoolant diaphragms iii are preferably connected through the nozzles I2to the pipes IS with a coolant chamber It, said coolant chamber beingsupplied with coolant in any desired manner.

The carriage 2 is provided adjacent one end with a series ofintermeshing gears l1 and the base member i is provided with a rack l9engaged by a pinion IS, the pinion being driven through the intermeshinggears I! by means of a motor supported by said carriage 2. It will beobvious that upon the rotation of the motor in one direction or theother the carriage 2 will be caused to travel longitudinally of the basemember and between the limit strips 2i carried at the opposite ends ofsaid base member. Ad-v jacent its oppositeends the carriage 2 isprovided with standards 22 adapted to pivotally engage and support apivot bar or shaft 23 which is in turn carried by the pivot beam 24. Thestandards 22 are preferably closed by a bearing cap 25, the membersbeing maintained in proper position by the bolts 26.

The beam 24 is of much greater length than the carriage 2 and the pivot23 thereof is preferably positioned adjacent the central portion of saidbeam, the projecting end of the beam, that is the portion of the beamprojecting beyond the carriage 2, is provided with a slot or opening 21and longitudinally disposed in said slot is a threaded shaft 28, andthreadably mounted on said shaft is a counter-weight or counterpoise 29.

be secured thereto by providing a threaded member 84 adapted to fitwithin a recess 24 in the beam 24 and to threadabiy engage the member33. The'latter is provided on its lower end with a spherical head 36adapted to engage the thickened portion 91 of a diaphragm 'plate 98, thesaid plate being supported by a flexible diaphragm I9 housed within adiaphragm chamber 40, the

flexible diaphragm member being adapted to extend under the peripheralflange 4| of the diaphragm chamber and when the latter is secured to thecarriage 2 by means of the bolt 42 an airtight connection is producedbetween the lower face of the flexible diaphragm member 39 and the upperface of the carriage 2. Leading to the space beneath the flexiblediaphragm is a passage 43 through which fluid pressure from a source notshown may enter or leave the space beneath the diaphragm.

On its upper face of a portion of the beam 24 lying to the left of thepivot 23 I provide a plurality of pivoted bearings 44, the latter beingdisposed on the medial line of the beam 24 and each pair of bearings 44being adapted to support a stub shaft 45, the shafts 45 extendinglongitudinally of the beam 24 and forming pivot bearings for theprojecting portions 45 formed on the lower face of the cradle 41. Thesaid cradle has surrounding its upper face 48 flanges 49 forming achannel into which the billet ,50 is adapted to be positioned. One orboth of the lateral flanges 49 may be provided with billet securingmeans 5| such as, for instance, threaded bolts adapted to engage on oneof the lateral edges of the billet to force the same into intimatecontact with the opposite flange and hold the billet in a fixedposition.

In Figures 8 and 9 I have shown means by which the shaft 52 of theabrasive drum 1 may be releasably connected to the shaft 53 of the motor54 which serves to drive the abrasive drum 8. The shaft 52 is providedwith a tongue adapted to enter the slot in the shaft 53, as set forth inmy co-pending Ser. No. 310,248, Couplings for shafts and the like, filedDecember 20, 1939, whereby the abrasive drum may be removed by either avertical movement or a transverse movement with respect to the motor.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

After a billet has been positioned in the cradle the grinding drum iscaused to rotate and the motor propelling the carriage is connected to asource of power so that the billet is caused to move beneath thegrinding drum and each portion of the billet face is subjected to theabrasive action of the drum. At the same time the motor 92 is caused tooperate, causing the counter-poise to move longitudinally of the beamand in the direction of th cradle. In addition, fluid pressuie isapplied to the diaphragm and by the proper manipulation of the diaphragmand by a control of speed of the motor 32 the pressure exerted by thebillet against the undersurface of the abrasive drum is positively anddefinitely controlled in order that the amount of material removed fromthe surface of the billet may be regulated to any desired degree.

Attention is again called to the function of applicants device which ismerely to remove from the surface of the billet such surface defects aswould result in imperfections in the finished bar or sheet produced fromthe billet, and not to grind the billet to a flat plane surface.

After the billet has passed beneath thedrum, as above described. thedirection of rotation of LArlHlH the drum may be reversed and the billetmoved in the opposite direction for further grinding of the surface, orif a single pass is sufficient, by releasing the pressure in thediaphragm, the billet may be returned without contact with the roll. Thefastening devices are then released and the billet is reversed so as tobring the opposite surface of the same uppermost and the operation oroperations repeated, after which the billet may be removed from thecradle and a new billet substituted.

I have shown and described in my co-pending application, Ser. No.377,237, Fluid pressure diaphragms, filed February 8, 1941, a specificmeans for controlling the pressure of the diaphragm and such means maybe employed in connection with this apparatus, or other suitable meanscommon to the art may be utilized.

It might be noted that the diaphragm housing is provided with a seriesof openings, the object and purpose of which is to permit the escape ofair between the flexible diaphragm and the ad- Jacent housing wall uponthe expansion of the diaphragm and to permit the breaking of the sealbetween the housing wall and the diaphragm upon the release of pressure.This construction is set forth and claimed in my co-pending application,Ser. No. 377,237.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentis:

1. A billet grinding machine comprising a base member, a movablecarriage mounted thereon, a beam pivotally mounted intermediate its endson said carriage, a cradle rockably supported on bearings extendinglongitudinally of and carried by said beam, said cradle being adapted toreceive and support a billet, an abrasive drum mounted on said basemember and overlying said cradle, and means for causing the rotation ofsaid abrasive drum, and separate means for causing a relativelongitudinal movement of said cradl and drum relative to the axis ofsaid drum.

2. A billet grinding machine comprising a base member, a carriagemounted thereon and movable longitudinally of said base member, a beampivotally supported by said carriage, said pivot being horizontallydisposed intermediate the ends of said beam, a cradle rockably supportedon said beam on bearings disposed at a right angle to said beam pivot,said cradle being adapted to receive and support a billet, an abrasivedrum mounted on said base member and overlying said cradle,

means for rotating said abrasive drum, and means for causing saidcarriage to move longitudinally of said base, said means being adaptedto control the movement of said carriage in'either of two directions.

3. A billet grinding machine including a rotatable abrasive drum, andmeans for supporting a billet in contact with said drum, said meanscomprising a. movably mounted carriage, a rockable beam carried by saidcarriage and extending longitudinally thereof, said beam being supported4. A billet grinding machine comprising a base member, said member beingprovided with bearing means positioned on opposite sides thereof, anabrasive drum mounted in said bearing means for rotatable movement, acarriage movable longitudinally of said base member, a beam extendinglongitudinally of said carriage and rockably supported from saidcarriage at a point intermediate the ends of said beam, means carried bysaid beam and spaced from said carriage for causing a pivotal movementof said beam about its pivot, a cradle carried bysaid beam and overlyingsaid carriage, said cradle being rockable at right angles to themovement of said beam, said cradle also serving to support a billet, andmeans for causing a longitudinal movement of said cradle, said beam andcradle being adapted to cause a line contact between the upper surfaceof a billet supported by said cradle and the adjacent portion of theperiphery of said abrasive drum during the longitudinal movement of saidcradle, said contact extending entirely across the face of the billet.

5. A billet grinding machine including a base member, a grinding drummounted thereon and spaced therefrom, a carriage movable longitudinallyof said base member, a beam extending longitudinally of said carriageand pivotally supported intermediate its ends by means carried by saidcarriage and adjacent one end thereof, and means for controlling themovement of said beam about its axis, said last named means including afluid pressure actuated plunger engaging the undersurface of said beamadjacent one end and a movable counterpoise positioned adjacent theopposite end of said beam.

6. A billet grinding machine comprising a base member, bearing meanspositioned on opposite sides of said base member, a rotatable abrasivedrum having its shaft mounted in said bearing means, means formaintaining the center of the shaft against movement relative to saidbase, a carriage movable longitudinally of said base member, gimbalmeans carried by said carriage and adapted to support a billet, andfluid pressure means carried by one of said elements of said gimbal forregulating the pressure between said drum and a billet supported by saidgimbal means during the longitudinal movement of said gimbal means withreference to said drum.

7. A billet grinding machine comprising a longitudinally extending basemember, bearing members positioned intermediate the ends of said base, arotatable abrasive drum mounted in said bearing members, the lower faceof said drum being spaced from the upper face of said base, a

, carriage movable longitudinally of said base and interposed betweenthe base and the lower face of said drum, gimbal means carried by saidcarriage, said means being adapted to receive and support a billet,means for moving said carriage longitudinally of said base member, saidmovement being adapted to cause the lower face of said drum to have aline contact with the upper face of said billet normal to thelongitudinal axis thereof, and means for rockably supporting said gimbalmeans on said carriage.

DAVID E. MULHOLLAND.

